Control lines have been attached to production tubing for operation of a variety of downhole components. Typically, the control line is assembled to the production tubing for running into the well together. If rigid tubing is used, the production string is made-up to position the bottomhole assembly at the desired depth, in conjunction with the attachment of the control line or control lines. It is only when the bottomhole assembly is fully positioned at the desired location downhole that the integrity of the control line can be first tested. Thus, when the bottomhole assembly is finally positioned and the control line is tested and a problem arises, the entire production string up to the bottomhole assembly must be removed from the wellbore in an effort to determine where leakage has occurred. What has been lacking in these techniques is the ability to primarily position the bottomhole assembly at the desired location and test portions of the control line adjacent to the bottomhole assembly while the bottomhole assembly is in position downhole. Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to allow the flexibility of testing the portion of the control line where leakage is most likely to occur, i.e., adjacent the bottomhole assembly, where there are more joints in the system.
Another objective of the present invention is to facilitate the assembly of a control line system which extends from the surface down to the bottomhole assembly and back up again along the production tubing to the surface. With such a layout, fiber optic technology can be used to insert, through the control line, a fiber optic cable which extends from the surface to the bottomhole assembly and back to the surface. The positioning of such a fiber optic cable in the control line allows well conditions to be monitored from the surface on a real-time basis. Thus, when a particular zone produces water and its temperature drops, the fiber optic cable can sense this occurrence and its position so that surface personnel can take appropriate corrective action. The control line connection system can be used for numerous other applications. This with a fiber optic cable is just one example of how a U-shaped control line can be used.
The objective of the connector of the present invention is to also allow as many branch connections as necessary so that multiple downhole devices can be operated as required. The connector also allows, through the use of a running tool, an opportunity to not only test the control line adjacent the bottomhole assembly, but also to operate certain components of the bottomhole assembly through the running tool, whereupon the running tool can be removed and the remainder of the string connected to the bottomhole assembly through the unique connector. These and other advantages will become more apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from a review of the description of the connector and the method below.